Day 24: A mobile shop on campus, and the best ramen in Hyehwa.

One advantage I had while staying in a guesthouse rather than a school dormitory is that there is always breakfast provided. Well, it depends on how you see it actually. Because although breakfast is provided, it is the same breakfast - bread and jam/peanut butter. If you are not a picky eater, this will suffice.

But Lydia and I was bored of bread and jam one day, and we have been eyeing this breakfast from a store opposite Sungkyunkwan's school gate - Isaac Toast. Funny as it seems, we didn't want to eat bread at the guesthouse, and we are paying about 1,500KRW for bread outside. Hahah but believe me, Isaac Toast is so so good. I didn't know it's a pretty popular franchise store in Korea, but yes I realise you can find it in most places. Okay maybe not as common as Paris Baguette, or GS25, but I know there is definitely one outlet in Hyehwa, Myeongdong and Hongdae, which are pretty popular tourist attractions. So do check it out~~!

So for lunch, Okta, Jihye, Minkyeong and I met to eat (instead of the usual gang that we eat with) since we had to discuss our presentation/report that was due the following Thursday/Friday. As with all other meetups, we drift away from the topic, ate and chit chat about everything under the sun, and before we know it, time's up for the next lesson. However, I thoroughly enjoyed our chat. It felt good to be close or at least feel close to Koreans. And I'm super grateful to them for their good command of English. I am the one who is going there to study and travel, but they are the ones who are accommodating me due to my lack of ability in Korean. So anyway, we decided to meet next Monday again for the project.

After lessons, Okta wanted to get a new phone. And yes, amazingly, SKKU has a mobile shop right on campus. Fascinating isn't it? Or at least for a Singaporean. Their bookshops are amazing. They sell the prettiest jackets and T-shirts - why doesn't Singapore universities have that?!?!??!?!? But anyway, HyoEun went along as a translator and I tagged along for fun.

We had some major communication issues because Okta and I don’t speak Korean (well enough) and he doesn’t speak English well enough so thankfully we have HyoEun. Honestly glad to have met her, because she is ever so helpful and goes the way out to help Okta with her mobile phone stuff etc. And of course some issues of mine. And I think it's not just her, most Koreans are amazingly helpful, even though there are some communication barriers between us, but that didn't stop them from trying to help us. While waiting, I was browsing at some of the phone accessories, and saw this really cute Galaxy S2 home button sticker. The sales guy at the shop was so generous and he told me to take it if I like it. I totally went 진짜요??!?!??! (which translates to REALLY?!?!) So I only took this really cute one (pictures below), after which he took its matching boy sticker to paste onto his phone. Uh-oh, now we have couple stickers hahahhahahahah.

After settling all those phone issues, it was about 6pm. Okta and I decided to meet for dinner since we didn't have any dinner plans. But since it was still early, we decided to meet again at 7pm and go back to our guesthouse for a short rest. Bad choice!!! It was pouring so heavily I almost wanted to not leave my house. But then again, I succumb to hunger.

I wasn't familiar with the restaurants around Hyehwa, so Okta suggested this ramen shop that she heard was good. And imagine a rainy cold night... ramen would be the perfect comfort food to have~~~! We headed to this small restaurant tucked in a hidden corner. The place itself was small, I don't think it can accommodate more than 20 people. But this ramen was the best I have ever had in my life. Really~~~~ the soup base is so thick and good, words just cannot describe how good it is. Please do have a try if you are in Hyehwa area. The shop's name is Saga Ramen, and from their website, I see that they have an outlet in Garousil-gil and Hongdae as well, the two more popular areas. If you can understand Korean, here you go: http://sagaramen.co.kr/ 

I had this ramen twice in 4 days. That's how good it was! I'm thinking of heading back there if I can find time to do so during my next trip there.

Day 23: Dinner at Hyehwa

Before I start, I just want to say that I'm absolutely grateful for the support to this blog. It hasn't been much but this blog finally hit its 1,000 views a few days ago. I'm sure they are tons of travel blogs around and I know myself I don't provide the best pictures, or the best directions, but I am glad I am of as much help as possible to anyone who needs it. Once again, you can always leave me a comment or email me at atthatmoment23@hotmail.com if I did not cover anything that you might be interested to know.

So, at this point in time, I realised that I have never taken a proper photo of Hyehwa, the place I spent 29 days in. Hyehwa is a nice place, although I would say if you are a tourist, this place may not be as good as Myeongdong. But if you are a tourist who wishes to experience a local life, Hyehwa is the perfect place to go. This place has lots of cafes, lots of youths (because of the university students), lots of hidden restaurants that are so so good. And in general, just a nice place to chill. You can do your shopping, spend hours talking with a friend in a pretty (though rarely quaint) cafe, or catch a movie, or sing at a noraebang!

So, I took this photo while waiting for Cheryl and Winnie to join us for dinner. It's been a while since we have full attendance. And it's been a while since the rain is not pouring hahah. So while waiting for Cheryl and Winnie at the subway exit, I decided to snap a lovely view of Hyehwa, that brought me back fond memories looking at it now.

So dinner for that day was suggested by Lydia. She has eaten here before and the food is good and cheap, as proclaimed by her. I'm not too sure what dish this is called, but it's basically pork boiled in a broth or something. It was nice in the beginning, but we got sick of that pork taste after a while.

And this is my favourite time. Whether in Yoogane for dakgalbi, or this, I just love to mix the rice together with the seaweed, whatever remaining broth, some egg, and turn this into a super delicious fried rice. I can eat this always!!!

This is the name of the restaurant. To be honest, I only know it is very near the gate of Sungkyunkwan University, tucked in one small corner. But other than that, urm, sorry I can't help much. I can give you the name in English if it helps. It is pronounced as myeong-lyun-gol.

So it started pouring halfway into our meal, what is this nonsense monsoon rain seriously!! We decided to sit down at Baskin Robbins and have icecream still, because it's been halfway into our trip, and we haven't even eaten Baskin Robbins here.

July is a bad period to be travelling in Korea. Seriously, you get the monsoon rains pouring on you, umbrellas overturning/flying out of your hands. It's frustrating enough for me (who was just leading a normal local's life) but imagine how bad it is for tourists. Most of Seoul's attractions are open-air, like the streets of Insadong, Myeongdong, Bukchon Hanok Village, Namdaemun Market, and it doesn't help to have rain. It's irritating seriously. Furthermore, towards the end of July, monsoon season disappears. (Honestly, there was a few days of good weather.) But out come the heat! The heat there is unbearable. It is X1000 more scorching than Singapore's sun, maybe because they have clear blue skies that doesn't seem to have that much clouds to help block out the sunrays. No amount of sunscreen is enough for me. I get dark still. Pffffffffffff

So my most honest opinion: Avoid July and August (the heat comes to an all-time high, glad that I didn't need to experience that) if you want to travel in Korea.

Day 22: Bibimbap, Namsan Tower, BBQ meat buffet

The day started off with the teaching assistant (or class monitor whatever) telling us that lunch is provided today. Today is a Korean Festival Day (self-proclaimed), and bibimbap (비빔밥) is served to all students. Bibimbap, as you can see, consists of rice and vegetables (many kinds) and eggs. It also contains meat (usually chicken, beef or pork) but I believe for the sake of vegetarians and Muslim students, it was omitted. Bibimbap also comes with gochujang sauce (고추장) which is a red sauce that tastes sweet, which wasn't seen in this picture. So... this bibimbap doesn't taste very good. Furthermore, even for a near-herbivore person like me, THIS IS TOO MUCH VEGETABLES!!!

During lunch, some of us discussed and talked about our plans for the evening. Jenny Winnie and Cheryl wanted to head to an underground shopping mall. Oktavia and HyoEun wanted to head to Namsangol Hanok Village + Namsan Tower. I was stuck because 1) I just wasn't into the mood for shopping that day. Actually it's not true because when that underground shopping mall is the best everrrrr. 2) I've been to Namsan Tower before and I just went to Namsangol Hanok Village last weekend!!!! In the end, I decided to join them for dinner and Namsan Tower because Namsan Tower really has one of the most amazing views and the atmosphere is just so cozy.

A picture of me and HyoEun - we found a pretty spot for photo taking!!!

So, dinner was pushed back because we were near the bus stop which fetches us up to Namsan Tower. So we decided to push dinner from 6.30pm to 8pm (after Namsan Tower visit). Well, turned out it was pushed till nearly 9pm by the time we reached.

HyoEun brought us to this meat buffet in Hyehwa, which costs about 9,000KRW (less than 10USD) per person and it is free-flow meat! Okay nothing awesome for me because like I said, I am a near-herbivore person. I was munching on sausages and kimchi the whole time hahaha but if you love meat, this is somewhere you totally should go! I know there are 8,000KRW meat buffet in sinchon too, which I haven't been before, but check it out!!!

Opps, the raw meat looks real gross though. But anyway, till then~!

Day 21: A random day

Sorry it's been some time since I last updated. I was busy celebrating Lunar New Year. For those who don't already know, Lunar New Year is celebrated not only by Chinese, but by many other nationalities and races as well. For instance, Thailand and Vietnam and South Korea also celebrates the Lunar New Year. Since I am talking about Korea in this blog, I shall mention a bit about it.

In Korea, our Lunar New Year is known as 설날 (seol-lal). To be honest, I am not too sure how it is celebrated in Korea since I wasn't in Korea before during that period. But I also understand that Koreans give out money as well to the kids. In Singapore, as long as you are not married, you will continue receiving hongbao (red coloured packets) money from our elders or cousins. If you are interested, feel free to read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_New_Year

So Day 21 was just another day at school, except that I had my presentation. Presentation went pretty well because Singapore students are really well trained in presentations seriously. And especially business students. I do at least 5 presentations every semester in university, so it was an easy task for us. But my group considered of people from other nationalities as well, but we get ahead pretty okay and they were all fine with their presentation skills, from what I remember.

After school, the girls wanted to go to Gwangjang Market, which is a traditional wet market. Because of the failed trip to Namdaemun two days ago, I really had no intention to go to another wet market. Rejected their offer which I totally should not!! I am totally regretting my decision because I really really wanted to sit at the stall and start munching on my Korean food - pajeon (pancake) and kimbab (seaweed rice roll). Below is a picture of Gwangjang Market from the tourism board and if I have a chance to go back to Korea, I would totally plan this into my itinerary.

So, since I wasn't heading to Gwangjang Market, I had to settle my own dinner. After settling my dinner at the guesthouse, it was only 7pm or so. I decided I should take a walk around my neighbourhood.

I live in Hyehwa, and Hyehwa is an university area, and also a rather cultural area. What I love about Hyehwa especially was that it was more laidback, more local (you don't hear or see too many tourists around), and definitely so with the abundance of cafes and restaurants there. One nice cafe which I really wanted to visit, but subsequently it was closed down for renovation already the next time I walked past it.

I think Hyehwa is a pretty good place for you to spend half a day at. You can go cafe hopping, and in between that, go take a look at the old campus of Sungkyunkwan University (MY SCHOOL!!!). Also, one place of interest is Naksan Park. They say, it's a place whereby you can get the entire view of Seoul. (Since Hyehwa is pretty in the centre of Seoul). And besides that, there are nice murals on the way up. So throw it into your itinerary too!! :)

Day 20: Noraebang (노래방)

Been a while since I have started this blog about my 46 days of adventure in Korea, and I hope it has been a little bit useful to anyone who is intending to visit Korea for travelling purposes / summer school. On the other hand, I am extremely encouraged by the visitors to this blog from all over the world. Hello to everyone out there! (: Do leave me a comment letting me know how I can improve better.

Okay so Day 20 is the start of my second week of ISS semester. This is yet another typical lunch in the Business School cafeteria - Squid and pork bibimbap. Look at the little donut they give you hahah funny how you get a sweet dish in the middle of everything spicy / salty.

School that day was as per usual. Other than that, my lunch gang decided we should have a noraebang (노래방) session after school. For anyone who doesn't already know, noraebang is the Singapore's version of KTV (like K-box, like Teoheng, like Partyworld). And I am quite sure in other parts of the world, they have this kind of karaoke pubs too. I am not sure how it works in different parts of the world, but the ones in Singapore and Korea and I believe, Taiwan, works the same way. You get a room depending on the size of your group. There are usually two ways they charge - by person, or by room.

Korean Noraebang is a place that I have been looking forward to ever since I started getting in touch with K-POP. It is no different from Singapore's ones, but except that the majority of the songs there are Korean songs (but of course). You still get a few Chinese songs, quite a bit of Japanese and English songs, and some Indonesian/Malay songs as well. So as you can see, it is a very diverse place anyone can go to.

Korean Noraebangs also have a lot of sound effects, like those of people clapping hands, those of loud cheers, and we had fun with those when each of us sang a song. I can read Hanguel, but my reading speed is pretty slow especially for the fast songs, but I am awesome with 2AM's songs. 2AM mostly sings ballad songs but also because of that, the mood gets a bit low hahah so I only sang one or two (also because I only know that few). A noraebang session can range from 5,000KRW for 2 hours per pax to 20,000KRW for 2 hours per pax. It all depends on the room size, the service, the quality. But to me, it doesn't really matter, except that this one we went is really quite cramped.

After a noraebang session, we decided to head out for dinner. Below is a dish of stir-fried pork intestines, otherwise known as makchang or gopchang. The last time I ate this, we had to BBQ it ourselves, but this time round, they had it cooked for us.

You should have seen this all over Korean variety shows already! And yes I get to experience that first-hand. You stuffed the food onto the vegetables, put sauce and garlic and many things (I don't know the order), and stuff it into your mouth. A burst of happiness really. (:

Oh I miss this so much right now ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. And we also experienced one of the worst monsoon rains that night. A 15-mins walk home was so terribly hard, with the umbrella almost flying off my hands gosh.

Day 19: Edae, Namdaemun, and Myeongdong

Warning: Many food pictures ahead.

So, after a lonely day on Day 18, I decided to meet up with Okta on Day 19, since she was free that day as well. I did up my presentation slides for one of my classes (due to present on Day 21) and then I left to meet Okta at the subway station and we took the train together. I wanted to go Edae because I wanted to give that place another chance (there must be something so fascinating about it) and since Okta likes traditional markets, we decided to give Namdaemun a chance too. So, off we go~~~~~!!

We decided to have lunch first since we were both starving. And I am so easy about food so seriously, it's never a good decision to ask me to decide, unless I have a specific craving that day. So, Okta brought me to this place in Edae whereby the girls and her had dinner few days ago but I skipped because I wasn't feeling well. Turns out it was right beside the shop whereby Shan and I had our lunch the last time we came by Edae. Anyway, we have this thing which I didn't know what it was but it looks so similar to 알밥 so it shall be 알밥 (al-bab).

First you are given rice with I think pickles, and some fish roe, and some crab meat and seaweed (may have tuna, kimchi and whatever not) arranged neatly like this.

And then you are also given a pair of gloves, so wear it, and mix it up like this.

When it's evenly mixed, you can roll them into cute riceballs like this!!!

I really love 알밥 and its lookalike thing here. But so far, I haven't seen a single store that sells al-bab here in Singapore. If you know of any, please let me knowwwwwwwww. I need to eat it!!!! Oh yes, it looks like sushi, and it does taste like sushi, but better. Somehow, I always think that the korean counterpart is better. Like al-bab v.s. sushi. And like kimbab v.s. sushi too. I think it's because of sesame oil. And less vinegar. I like my rice less sour and more salty hahah.

We also ordered this seafood jjigae thing, and they have ddeok (rice cakes) inside and cheese (oh so good~~) and ramen and I don't know what else but it tastes so good. Any korean restaurant can whip up a delicious dish seriously. This is a small store tucked away in a quiet street with only one man who is the cashier, the waiter, the cook, and most probably also the boss. And with a seating capacity of at most 20 customers, but the food tastes so good~~~!

Me and my amazing stomach, and I managed to stuff another chicken skewer into my stomach. The sauce is so awesome, it looks like chicken satay though. And even though I am such a picky eater as in like I don't eat anything with skin, bones and fats (my favourite food is chicken breast meat hahahah) but I closed my eyes and ate all the fats and skins because it was just so good. Korea has trained my ability to take in more kinds of food so I think I am healthier now too because I get some healthy fats once in a while hahah.

I also met Sharon, my university friend, while shopping around. What a small world right! Anyway, I saw this shoe that I really like but it was like 35,000won which is about $40 and I really don't want to buy it because I don't think it's worth that price. So I searched all other shops in Edae but I still did not manage to find it. I thought usually Edae shops repeat the clothes and fashion but somehow this shoe doesn't appear anywhere else. Sadly, we left Edae and head to Namdaemun because it was nearly 5pm already.

We wanted to spend the night eating dinner in Namdaemun too, so it was so disappointing. I didn't know whether we came on a wrong day (Sunday), or whether it was raining that day or what, but half the stores were not open, the shopping malls around were all locked up and there were only that many people in that area. I thought we were at the wrong place and Okta didn't want to give up but we were standing right under the sign that says "Namdaemun Market". Oh but I am surprised because a shoe shop owner identified me straight as Singaporean. Because 1) Not many Koreans know about Singapore 2) How did he even know I am from Singapore!??!?!?!?

Anyway, there wasn't much food that fascinated us so Okta and I decide to head to Myeongdong (AGAIN, TOO LAZY TO COUNT WHICH TIME ALREADY) for dinner because Okta hasn't been there before. We had Bonjuk for dinner because it was a rainy day and a perfect day to have porridge. When the drizzle finally stopped, we started our shopping in Myeongdong!!!

Look at what I bought - cute Piglet socks!!! My guesthouse was so cold. Okay or maybe it's just me. And that I'm not used to sleeping in cold rooms. It was only 24 or 25 degree celsius but I always woke up shivering. And I have feet cramps a number of time so I thought getting socks will help, and it did!!!

I also bought this pair of lovely heels that Okta snagged for me. The shop was having a sales, and everything is going at 19,000won. But because I am not sure if I read correctly, I asked for the price and it was indeed 19,000won. (Although the owner sounded a bit irritated like I'm illiterate or smth hahah, but I think he was kinder after realising I'm not Korean - they can tell, my pronunciation is horrible.) This is like one size bigger than my usual size (235mm). And oh yes, they go by millimetres in Korea, I'm a size 7, and a 235mm, so check out your size beforehand or try a few sizes to find out yours. Okta really liked this and wanted it but it wasn't available in her size and she was grabbing to the shoe all the while because once she let it go, and other customer picked it up and she was so worried someone else will buy it away hahahah.

And I am so thankful to her for holding on to it firmly for me, because it is my favourite shoe now!! I was contemplating between this one and another one is navy and hotpink (which I miss very much now) and I decided to get this. I should have gotten both because when I went back the next time round, that shoe was gone. )))): If there is one thing I must buy in Korea, it is shoes. No wonder Korean girls go everywhere in heels. Their heels are so comfortable it feels as if I'm wearing flats.

Mind you, I ran in this 3.5" heels in the airport because we were running late for the plane. So you should know how worried and anxious and how fast we were running, and luckily I was wearing this shoe, if not I might have fell and twisted my ankle or smth if I was running in another pair of heels.

So, the takeaway of this post is that... get more heels (for girls) if you go to Korea!!!!!

Day 18: Spending the day alone

It's a brand new year. Sorry I have been busy with 알바 (part-time/holiday job) during December. But since it's a new year, I shall start updating again (though it's already five days from the new year). Anyway, happy 2014 to all! :DD

So, let's talk about day 18. Day 18 and 19 were the days and the first weekend which I had to be alone. The girls left to Jeju and since I had already been there before (and they are going to all those tourist attractions which I have already went), I decided to not waste the money again. I am a poor student who is extremely on budget, you see. So there I begin my solo trip.

Okay so I had to do the laundry before leaving the house, because we have this huge stack of clothes to be washed (and were accumulated over a few days already). And hey, we were partly helping to save water okay, though I do agree it is more like we are too lazy. My guesthouse had this rule that we are not allowed to use the washing machines from 8.30am to 1pm because that is the time that they need to wash the bedsheets and all other things. So... I had to wait till 1pm before I can use the laundry, and collect it nearly an hour later, and after hanging it to dry and everything, it was over 2pm when I left the house.

Proof of me doing the laundry

And so, I was planning to explore some quiet areas alone. Okay, partly because it was also the self-conscious me at work. I didn't want to hang out in areas that were too crowded because it made me feel even more alone, and it was so scary being alone like I feel people will judge me. Actually, come to think of it, being alone in a foreign land (and not understanding most of what the locals say) is the best time for me to just be myself, because I don't get to hear how they thought I was, but unfortunately, I was too busy being self-conscious.

Anyway, I found out about this place from a friend's blog (http://seoulotraveller.blogspot.sg/). She provides really useful information as well. So, after a bit of googling (while waiting for the laundry to be done), I decided to go to The National Folk Museum of Korea and Namsagol Hanok Village. Of which both are cultural sites AGAIN. I think I am really into cultural stuff, even though I might not think so. I was also planning to visit Samcheong-dong for some quiet time in a quaint cafe, since it was in the vicinity.

To get the the Folk Museum, first go to Gyeongbukgung. (Refer to directions in my previous post: http://lizsayseoul.blogspot.sg/2013/09/day-6-ancient-and-cultural-seoul.html) After that, you can follow the signs to get to the Folk Museum. I don't know if I take an extremely long way or what, but the walk was about 20 minutes long before I reached the Folk Museum. Okay, and technically speaking, I wasn't going to the Folk Museum. I was just visiting this oldies street that they have there that depicts life in the 1960's/70's.

All in all, this place, though a little small, was a nice place for you to walk down memory lane. Most of the shops don't look familiar to me, but it does look like this in dramas, and I really felt like I went back to the past. This coffee salon, in particular, is a functional cafe, that allows you to buy a cup of coffee from the vending machine (at only 300won = 40cents), and just sit down to chit chat. I really wanted to, except that I couldn't find a seat in this small place.

I decide to cross over to Samcheong-dong, which is supposedly opposite the Folk Museum. I turned rounds and rounds and spent half an hour walking and walking nonstop because I am not too sure if I was in the right place. I did see a number of cafes (Samcheong-dong is famous for rows and rows of cafes), but not rows and rows of them. They were countable with my ten fingers, so I thought I wasn't in the right place. I wanted to settle down anyhow but I didn't find that kind of quaint cafe which I like. So feeling disappointed, I left that place.

I was ahead by my schedule for a whole hour, because I predict that I will be sitting in a cafe for an hour. So while on the way back to the subway station, I decided to cross over to the King Sejong statue. Just in case you are interested, you can read all about King Sejong here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sejong_the_Great. Wikipedia is our best friend hahah, along with Google. In short, I learnt that King Sejong is a wonderful and smart man who had many beneficial acts while he was the king, hence the name Sejong the Great. Also, he was the man who invented Hangeul, which is the Korean character/alphabet (before that, they borrowed Chinese characters) and I have to say that Hanguel is really easy to read and write, but of course the grammar and vocabulary and everything else is mad difficult.

Do not just think that you are there just to snap a picture of the statue of King Sejong. Behind this statue, there is an underpass. In this underpass, it shows you the history of Korea, and some of the beneficial acts of King Sejong and all the facts about him. Really shows how much respect Koreans have for him, and also I am amazed by Korea once again - I never expected an underpass below this statue. By the way, the underpass also links to the statue of Admiral Yi Sun Shin, so you can explore further. There are also booths in front of these two statues where you can try out costumes of generals and kings for a small amount (3,000won).

I then hurried to Namsangol Hanok Village. Having failed a similar hanok village (Bukchon Hanok Village) a week ago, I am not too sure whether Namsangol Hanok Village is able to surprise me. However, exactly because I failed to conquer Bukchon Hanok Village, I wanted to be here to conquer another hanok village. It was also highly recommended by my friend Saiful.

Namsangol Hanok Village, in comparison, is a quaint quiet place. It features five restored traditional Korean houses (hanoks), a pavilion, a pond and a time capsule. To get to Namsangol Hanok Village, get off at Chungmuro Station (Exit 4), turn 180 degrees and walk for a few minutes before turning left at the cafes. It is hidden among tall buildings so you may not see it at first sight, but a rare traditional area is still quite obvious within modern buildings, so just pay slightly more attention.

In Namsangol Hanok Village, you get to watch traditional wedding ceremonies, traditional Korean plays, and also try on hanboks (traditional korean costumes) for a small price. It's a pity I didn't get to know about the hanbok trying session here, but anyway I didn't have anyone who could help me snap a picture too. Woes of a solo traveller.

After rounding up all the places I wanted to go (some was a success, some quite a failure), I ended up back in Myeongdong. Myeongdong is my comfort place, I really love that place, I will explain it much later in another post. So I was really craving for Japanese curry rice for two whole weeks and that was the day I decided to satisfy my craving and headed to Saboten for dinner. I think it was weird to eat alone because Koreans love big groups and they don't really eat alone but the food was too nice for me to bother after a while. I also wanted to drink Gongcha (bubble tea that reminds me of home) but the queue was crazily long and I wasn't confident enough to order a drink where I had to indicate so many preferences so I gave up (even before trying).

I ended the night searching for DVDs and checking out their prices for Lissya at one of the two underground KPOP shops in Myeongdong subway station. I also bought this SHINee 2014 calendar, which was nothing but useless, because it only listed down all the dates, without even indicating if it was a Sunday or Monday. ZzZzzzZzzzzZ I hate impractical stuff but at 5,000KRW and also the fact that it has really nice pictures of SHINee, I decided to close one eye.

Preview of next post: Shopping with Okta!